The young women participating in the VOH Program undergo training in personal and leadership development. The expectation and goal of “Voices of Hope” is…that all of our students become positive role models and change agents within their community. Once they have obtained their education and are professionally employed, they will also be included as mentors and facilitators in future training, creating a cycle of giving back to their communities. as a gesture of kindness and appreciation of what others have done for them.

The Voices of Hope sponsored students met yesterday in Kajiado and reached out to the community to distribute sanitary napkins to the very needy young girls in the Maasai community.

One in ten schoolgirls in Africa miss classes or drop out completely due to their menstrual cycle. In countries where menstrual hygiene is taboo, girls in puberty are typically absent for 20% of the school year. Most girls drop out at around 11 to 12-years-old, and miss school not simply because they fear being teased by their classmates if they show stains from their period, but also because they are not educated about their periods, and their need for safe and clean facilities is not prioritised. The idea that monthly bleeding is something shameful, polluting, or taboo may also encourage girls to avoid social contact during their period. Additionally, the cultural implications of menstruation as a stage in a woman’s development may be used to take girls out of school – the idea being that if a girl is ready for motherhood, then she is ready for marriage. This is why our students and Kenyan Board Members are providing sanitary napkins to young adolescent and teenage girls.

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